Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Segundo Abrahán Sanabria Gómez
Title:  Asimetrías tecnológicas y desequilibrios económicos regionales: Una aproximación teórica
Abstract: Resumen:
El presente ensayo pretende examinar la forma en que se concibe la
tecnología y las características de los procesos de difusión del cambio
tecnológico entre las diferentes regiones de un país. El objetivo principal, es
encontrar elementos teóricos que permitan explicar la forma como la tecnología
y su dinámica puede afectar la desigualdad entre diferentes regiones, teniendo
en cuenta la heterogeneidad en la estructura económica de las mismas. El texto
aborda la problemática teniendo en cuenta que los efectos  que se derivan de una macroinvención, están
asociados a las condiciones de contexto en que tiene lugar, lo que implica que
si las condiciones económicas de cada región son diferentes, igualmente habrá
diferencia en los beneficios que se obtengan de una macroinvención.Abstract:Economic inequality between regions is a problem that has been linked to many researchers from different disciplines, resulting in a significant volume of literature that analyzes the problem from different approaches. Authors such as Martin and Sunley (1996) and Moncayo (2004), make judicious tour of the international literature on the discussion of regional economic inequality. Equally, Lambooy and Boschma (2001) and Martin and Sunley (2006), Page (2006), Scott (2006) and  others, have developed important analysis of the role of technological development at the regionallevel. However, there is not enough clarity on the relationship between technological progress and regional economic imbalances.This paper seeks to examine how technology is conceived and the characteristics of the processes of diffusion of technological change between different regions of a country. From the different theoretical approaches are to identify elements of analysis to help explain how technological progress affects regional economic imbalances. The paper argues that the role of technology in economic growth is not neutral between regions due to the development and incorporation into the production system requires particular conditions. Consequently, when these conditions are heterogeneous across regions, the impact of technological progress on productivity of the economic system is asymmetric, which results in the formation of technological trajectories and accumulation of productive resources in favor of one region to the detriment of other strengthening economic imbalances between regions.From the second half of the twentieth century, technological progress is recognized as a resource for economic production and since then it is assigned a potential effect on economic growth and development. Given the importance of the economic literature, theoretical and empirical level, assigned to technological progress, requires a conceptual approach to the issue of technology and its relationship with economic development. This case is taken as a reference to Mokyr (2003: 6) for whom the “Technology is knowledge. Knowledge, as is well known, has always been adifficult concept for standard economics to handle. It is at the core of modern economic growth, but many characteristics make it slippery to handle. (…)The basic unit of analysis of technology is the “technique.” A technique is a set of instructions on how to produce goods and services. (…) While technology often depends on artifacts, the artifacts are not the same as the technique and what defines the technique is the content of the instructions.”However, among the first authors who gave an important role to technological change in economic development is Schumpeter, who argues that technological change is induced by the nature of capitalism that is derived primarily from competitive structures and the need of capitalist to sustain the market. These proposals are the origin of evolutionary economic theory, which is supported on a metaphor that refers to biological processes, although there are important differences between manufactured and what comes from a natural birth, but evolutionary metaphor is a effective tool toexplain the history of technological change (Basalla, 1991).Those who approach the problem of technological progress from the biological perspective, are two categories in the analysis. On one hand, micromutations arise, which are small changes that occur in an existing species and gradually altering their features. This phenomenon is associated with microinvenciones, which are small progressive steps that improve, adapt or modernize existing techniques already in use, thereby perfecting their form and function, reduces costs, increases durability and decreases the energy and raw materials. On the other hand, appear macromutations,resulting in new species, which in this context equivalent to the macro inventions, which are to be those inventions of which emerges a radically new idea. This analytical approach concludes that the dynamics of technological progress, the macro inventions and microinvenciones not replace, but complement (Mokyr, 1993).According to Elster (2000), variations are random, and are usually very small and the result is a local maximum, which means you can choose the best result, but this is best only locally, because you can not compare it to other places as the actors are different and preferences are different, and probably not known other benchmarks. The imperfection of the original builder, allowing the final perfection, this implies that there is no optimal, universal nor permanent. This approach leaves asymmetries implicit relationship between economic growth and technical progress for each economic region.Of the approaches of Schumpeter, Mokyr and Elster, inferred how innovations arise, however for dissemination through the production system requires additional conditions as previous knowledge accumulated by organizations. However, there are conditions that slow the process of diffusion of innovations, as expounded Soet and Turner, “The importance of the diffusion of innovation rather than the mere occurrence of innovations is of course the mayor factor underlyingmost of the microeconomic diffusion literature. The fundamental reason for delay in adopting –the so-called retardation factors- have been found to relate both to uncertainty and lack of information about the new technology and the often proprietary nature of the new technology.” (Soet and Turner, 1984: 612).In this context, previous knowledge is complementary to the more specific knowledge required for new activities. But, in each industry there is a specific knowledge base on which these developments continue, however, these knowledge bases available are different in each place, which allows the existence of different rhythms and skill sets for innovation. Also, the knowledge and skills acquired by a firm are cumulative, which tends to reduce the randomness in the searchresults of innovations and this will determine the economic regions and technologies used, as it creates favorable conditions for their use and development.According to the evolutionary approach, technological development follows a path around specific properties that act as search rules, technological imperatives and accumulation of expertise within each technological paradigm. As a result, you get a diversity among firms is a permanent and fundamental technological change and its asymmetric effects in the industrial environment.This condition of permanent asymmetries conditions the process of diffusion of innovations, which may face two scenarios: homophily y heterophily. In the first referenced when interacting group of individuals has similar characteristics and the second is when interacting groups of individuals with different characteristics. The latter is the most common as Rogers poses.However the behavior of entrepreneurs in different economic activities, making different rates, which may explain disparities in technological progress among economic sectors and between industries. From this perspective, the dynamics of regional growth based on innovation and technology, assumes a different pattern in relation to the geographical and historical status. That is, the relationship between these variables and growth is not stable over time, but this may be changing, which will allow the growth rates of the regions and their economic activities are oscillations or cycles in a given period. In this sense, the institutional conditions, availability of information and technology resources make the difference between regions in relation to the role of creativity and the development of a region in relation to other.Of Analysis that posed Martín and Sunly, it follows that in each region, there is a provision of conditions which form a specific context in which it takes place, different technological mutations, but these mutations, even random, will be conditioned, or at least its purpose for a specific context.In the regional analysis, it is necessary to place two aspects in relation to the processes of diffusion of a technology: This process depends, among other things, whether the macroinvención or macromutation took place within the region, or if instead , this occurred in another region, and what geographical, intellectual, historical, cultural and technological separating the two regions.Therefore, the structural heterogeneity in underdeveloped regions, it becomes a limit to the link between business processes and thus prevents the integration of economic space. “In those cases, the possibilities for firms to build capabilities depend almost entirely on internal efforts, which would act as a strong restriction on learning opportunities” Robert y Yougel 2010: 442). This approach shows that each region is an abstract set of interrelationships of different order, which under particular dynamics, are setting their own functional forms to relate the determinants of economic growth. Surely when comparing a group of regions must identify a number of common elements around growth, but the shape and intensity as they relate to each other, show important differences between them.What I finally concluded, after review of literature presented, is that the emergence of technological innovations has a random behavior in geographic space. However, certain economic areas may be conditions which favor these processes, also foster the processes of diffusion of innovations in a territory other between firms and between products. When a region has favorable conditions for such processes, facilitates the formation of technological trajectories, which reinforce the original terms of favorability, thus allowing technological progress in these regions drive growth and economic development at a higher rate compared to the regions that do not have these conditions favorability,resulting in a cumulative circular causation process.
Classification-JEL: R1
Keywords: Cambio tecnológico, Economía evolucionista, Difusión tecnológica, Estructura económica, Desigualdad económica, Technological change, Evolutionary economics, Technological difusion, Economic structure, Economic inequality
Pages: 131-154
Volume: 03
Year: 2013
File-URL: http://www.revistaestudiosregionales.com/documentos/articulos/pdf-articulo-2424.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:rer:articu:v:03:y:2013:p:131-154